IDPA Constitutes the Gyalwang Drukpa Awards for Excellence in Social Development Films

INDORE, India - Oct. 21, 2013 - PRLog -- IDPA Constitutes the Gyalwang Drukpa Awards for

Excellence in Social Development Films

’The Rat Race’ and ‘That Fired Soul’ awarded “The Gyalwang Drukpa Award”for “Best Public Interest Films”

National: The Indian Documentary Producers Association has instituted “The Gyalwang Drukpa Awardsfor the best public interest film”. This particular award category has been established in the name of the Gyalwang Drukpa, spiritual head of the Drukpa lineage, founder of Live to Love, a global humanitarian organisation and a globally recognised environment and developmental champion.

At the 10^th IDPA Awards Ceremony held in Mumbai, two films received “The Gyalwang Drukpa Awards” for “Best Public Interest Film” category.

§  The Gold Trophy and a cash prize of Rs 30,000/-was awarded to the Rat Race, a documentary by Miriam ChandyMenacherry which beautifully captivates the gritty true life account of Mumbai’s night rat killers and brings out the story of the men hired by the municipal corporation who set out with torches and sticks to bring back the bodies of 30 rats to earn a daily wage.

§  The Silver Trophy and a cash prize of Rs 20,000/- went to That Fired Soul, a contemporary Shadow Puppetry show on Gandhi as a ‘Fired Soul’, is a documentary by Mr.Aravind Kumar wherein the young narrator takes into a quest to explore a Gandhi today and eventually ends up surprisingly revised, finding a Gandhian couple. The film explores their idea of land swaraj via-a vis the landless.

The Gyalwang Drukpa Awards were given out by His Eminence Drukpa Thuksey Rinpoche

Speaking on the occasion, His Eminence, Drukpa Thuksey Rinpoche said “The Gyalwang Drukpa awards aim to recognise the people and organisations which can be artisans of a better tomorrow and want to touch upon a social aspect with a motive of bringing a change in the society. In this edition of the awards, we found these two producersextremely dedicated, and committed towards bringing a noticeable change in the society and inspiring others to work towards a common good.”

Some other notable films that were awarded at the IDPA Awards include the

§  Kung Fu Nuns, a movie by ChandramouliBasu demonstrating the story of Kunzang, a 29-year-old Drukpa nun, as she and her fellow nuns prepare to perform the ritual of the Dragon Dance, previously only meant for monks to perform, swept away the heart of Jury to win a ‘Special Jury MentionedAward’ in the ‘Documentary upto 30 minutes’ category

§  Pad Yatra: A Green Odyssey by Wendy J.N. Lee won a Certificate of Merit for capturing theGreen Odyssey, based on the adventure of 700 people trekking across the Himalayas with a call to save the planet's "3rd Pole," a glacial region now devastated by the climate chaos associated with global warming.

About IDPA

IDPA is a non-profit organisation that came into being in 1956. It is registered as a public trust under theBombay Public Trust Act 1950. Today IDPA is India’s single largest association of producers of documentaries, animation films, advertisement films and TV programmes.
In its over 50 years of existence, IDPA has worked in the interest of documentary and short film makers by providing a forum for like-minded professionals. It has facilitated their working life by providing them with regular updates, standardised rate cards and by settling disputes.

About Drukpa Lineage:

The Drukpa Buddhists follow the Mahayana Buddhist tradition in philosophy, i.e. the philosophy of "getting enlightened for the benefit of others" and the methods are based on the Tantrayana teachings passed down from the great Indian saint Naropa, born in 1016. "Druk" in means "Dragon" and it also refers to the sound of thunder. In 1206, the first Gyalwang Drukpa, Naropa’s reincarnation, saw nine dragons fly up into the sky from the ground of Namdruk, and he named his lineage "Drukpa" or "lineage of the Dragons" after this auspicious event. Today, the Drukpa Lineage sprawls over major parts of the Himalayas, especially in Ladakh, Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti in India, as well as Bhutan and Nepal. Bhutan, also known as “DrukYul” or “Land of Thunder Dragons”, honours the Drukpa Lineage as its state religion. The lineage is also widely practiced in many countries throughout the world, especially Vietnam, another nation deeply influenced by the legends of “Dragons”.

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